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Edward Burns Scripts Collection: Screenplays Download

Edward Burns was born on January 29, 1968 in New York City. He’s the 2nd of 3 children to Molly, who worked for the Federal Aviation Administration at Kennedy Airport, & Edward J. Burns, a police sergeant as well as active spokesperson for the New York Police. He was raised as a Catholic. He as well as his older sister Mary & brother, Brian, were raised in Long Island. He attended Catholic Chaminade High School before transferring to a public high school. He went on to attend The State University of New York at Albany & Oneonta College in New York to major in English literature. During his junior year, he transferred to Hunter College in Manhattan, studied filmmaking & began writing short films.

After graduating, he secured a job at Entertainment Tonight through his father’s connections, working at as a “go-fer.” There he was able to finance & begin working on The Brothers McMullen (1995), a comedy focusing on the trials & tribulations facing 3 Irish-Catholic siblings. It was shot primarily in his parents’ Long Island home w/ a cast of unknowns such as himself & Maxine Bahns. It was filmed over 8 months/ a reported budget of only $30,000.

Rejected by a series of distributors, The Brothers McMullen (1995) bowed at Sundance after he had given Robert Redford a copy of the film while working on ET. In 1995, his film won the festival’s Grand Jury Prize, becoming 1 of the most successful independent efforts of the year. He then sold the film to 20th Century Fox’s Searchlight Pictures.

For his follow-up, he wrote & directed She’s the One (1996), which retained much of McMullen’s cast & crew. He was also able to cast up-and-coming stars Jennifer Aniston & Cameron Diaz in pivotal roles w/ original music from rocker Tom Petty. Filmed w/ a larger budget of almost $3 million, the romantic comedy successfully premiered during the summer of 1996 . He soon began work on his 3rd film No Looking Back, a romantic drama set in a coastal town’s working-class community.

In 1998, he co-starred in the Steven Spielberg World War II epic Saving Private Ryan (1998). Afterwards, he continued to have a successful year. However, his next few films such as Sidewalks of New York (2001) didn’t make much of a dent in the box office.

He’s committed to writing & directing his own films. He’s not affected by his work & continues his own projects, even tackling touchy relationship subjects & pioneering real-life matters. With his panoply of Woody Allen-like films, he’ll continue to dazzle while gaining recognition.

I also had a blast talking to the man himself. So please enjoy my conversation with Edward Burns.

Below are all the screenplays available online. If you find any of his missing screenplays please leave the link in the comment section.

When you are done reading take a listen to Apple and Spotify’s #1 Screenwriting Podcast The Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcastwith guest like Oscar® Winner Eric Roth, James V. HartDavid ChaseJohn AugustOliver Stone and more.


(NOTE: For educational and research purposes only).

THE BROTHERS MCMULLEN (1995)

Screenplay and Directed by Edward Burns – Buy the Screenplay!

SHE’S THE ONE (1996)

Screenplay and Directed by Edward Burns – Buy the Screenplay!

NO LOOKING BACK (1998)

Screenplay and Directed by Edward Burns – Buy the Screenplay!

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)

Directed by Steven Spielberg – Read the screenplay!

SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK (2001)

Screenplay and Directed by Edward Burns – Read the screenplay!

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